Complaining about Apple gypping you by changing its terrible, bulky, hard-to-use 30-pin dock connector for the sleek, double-sided Lightning connector? Then take a look at the alternative from Samsung. One of the few things it didn't copy from Apple was the giant connector, but that's not to say it got anything right.

The picture you see above is the collection of Samsung's last ten years worth of cellphone connectors. All 18 of 'em. The kit is meant for cellphone unlockers, those dodgy-looking dudes you always see at the back of the market with like three beat up old laptops on a couple of old trestle tables, ready to liberate your handset from carrier lock-in.

The kit will cost you a reasonable $40, or just $10 more than Apple will charge you for a single cable. But more interesting is the weight: This bundle tips the scales at 1.3 pounds. That's possibly the shipping weight, but even so, it's the same as a pair of iPads.

So quit whining about Apple changing the cable once every decade. Not only are you an entitled moaner, you also seem to forget that you will only need one adapter, as you will only have one iPhone 5.

how many of those had dedicated accessories for them as in speaker docks and such products that are now useless to those who upgrade. i’m not a troll or android fanboi and have my preordered 5 on its way.

Brian Gregory May

how many of those had dedicated accessories for them as in speaker docks and such products that are now useless to those who upgrade. i’m not a troll or android fanboi and have my preordered 5 on its way.

How many people owned Cassette boom boxes before Compact Discs were released? Technology has to move forward sooner or later.

Bobby Autrey

how many of those had dedicated accessories for them as in speaker docks and such products that are now useless to those who upgrade. i’m not a troll or android fanboi and have my preordered 5 on its way.

Apple isn’t responsible for how may 3rd part accessories that someone bought. Nor is there anyone forcing anyone to upgrade to the iPhone 5 if they have too big of an investment in accessories to walk away from at this time.

kameleongt

how many of those had dedicated accessories for them as in speaker docks and such products that are now useless to those who upgrade. i’m not a troll or android fanboi and have my preordered 5 on its way.

Apple isn’t responsible for how may 3rd part accessories that someone bought. Nor is there anyone forcing anyone to upgrade to the iPhone 5 if they have too big of an investment in accessories to walk away from at this time.

I dont think apple is responsible for it but to make an adaptor (29.99) that they say wont work for some of those docks kind of sucks. those docks are expensive in some cases more than the phone on contract. but back to the subject at hand are those connecters from smartphones? all of my android phones atleast 10 that ive had since 08 have all had micro usb. so i’m not sure if any of those that are being shown in that pic are for smartphones.

babdoc

how many of those had dedicated accessories for them as in speaker docks and such products that are now useless to those who upgrade. i’m not a troll or android fanboi and have my preordered 5 on its way.

Apple isn’t responsible for how may 3rd part accessories that someone bought. Nor is there anyone forcing anyone to upgrade to the iPhone 5 if they have too big of an investment in accessories to walk away from at this time.

Not to mention that Apple has been straying away from using wires/cords/cables for its devices. Airplay, Airprint, wireless syncing with iTunes, iCloud, heck, even the iPod nano can now talk with your stereo via Bluetooth. Simplicity is the name of the game with Apple. They’re steadily whittling away at what you can do with a cable. In Apple’s world, you should be able to transfer all data wirelessly to/from your iDevice; all you would need is an AC cord for is charging…until they incorporate inductive charging, that is…

gordonj333

I agree that Lightning is a very, very good thing. There are adaptors that help make devices compatible, so it’s not the end of the world for old devices. However, the advantages and benefits are really plain to see for new and future devices, addressing many of the frustrations related to the dock connector (reversibility, small, all-digital, enabling smaller devices, etc).

RE: “One of the few things it didn’t copy from Apple was the giant connector…”-Samsung DID actually (slavishly) copy the dock connector though, and this is my main reason for responding. It’s one of their most flagrant “admirations” of apple to date, and can be found on some of their flagship galaxy devices.

Not only the cable was copied, but also the square small wall-charger block with the female USB plug. Though I suppose theirs is black, not white ;)

FYI-

TheMacGuy

I dont think apple is responsible for it but to make an adaptor (29.99) that they say wont work for some of those docks kind of sucks. those docks are expensive in some cases more than the phone on contract. but back to the subject at hand are those connecters from smartphones? all of my android phones atleast 10 that ive had since 08 have all had micro usb. so i’m not sure if any of those that are being shown in that pic are for smartphones.

Does it really matter if these were on a smartphone or not? If someone bought an accessory or accessories for a phone with this connector, then bought a smartphone with Micro or Mini USB, they would still be in the same boat as you, bought these accessories, and now you can’t use them with your new phone. No one forced you to buy the iPhone 5, and no one forced you to buy all these accessories. What I plan to do is just sell all my 30-pin accessories on eBay, and buy new ones. Most of them have given my 2 or more years of usage out of them, and owe my absolutely nothing.

djkikrome

how many of those had dedicated accessories for them as in speaker docks and such products that are now useless to those who upgrade. i’m not a troll or android fanboi and have my preordered 5 on its way.

How many people owned Cassette boom boxes before Compact Discs were released? Technology has to move forward sooner or later.

As a matter of fact, my CD Player ate my cassette tape but that was after converting my reel to reel to 8 track. The reel is jammed in the 8 track player still. Just couldn’t get that connection to work right.

djkikrome

I agree that Lightning is a very, very good thing. There are adaptors that help make devices compatible, so it’s not the end of the world for old devices. However, the advantages and benefits are really plain to see for new and future devices, addressing many of the frustrations related to the dock connector (reversibility, small, all-digital, enabling smaller devices, etc).

RE: “One of the few things it didn’t copy from Apple was the giant connector…”-Samsung DID actually (slavishly) copy the dock connector though, and this is my main reason for responding. It’s one of their most flagrant “admirations” of apple to date, and can be found on some of their flagship galaxy devices.

Not only the cable was copied, but also the square small wall-charger block with the female USB plug. Though I suppose theirs is black, not white ;)

FYI-

Change this article to 19 connectors and add that photo. I forgot about that one and I saw it long ago.

jaroslawt

all of my android phones atleast 10 that ive had since 08 have all had micro usb. so i’m not sure if any of those that are being shown in that pic are for smartphones.

It is impossible. There where only mini USB ports back then in 2008. Funny thing – Samsung had it’s proprietary cable, HTC had extUSB (with analog audio) and Motorola had strange pin changed which renderd their accessories incompatible with all other mini USB. So much for android standards :)

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Charlie Sorrel is the Reviews Editor here on Cult of Mac. Follow Charlie on Twitter at @mistercharlie.

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